I'm Coming Home
by Caz Malfoy
Summary: Thirty years ago Jack and Ianto said goodbye. Now, Jack spots a familiar figure walking across the Plass...


**Title: **I'm Coming Home  
**Fandom: **Torchwood  
**Pairing: **Ianto/Jack, Mentions of Ianto/OMC  
**Rating: **FRT  
**Summary: **Thirty years ago, Jack and Ianto said goodbye. Now, Jack spots a familar figure walking across the Plass...  
**Spoilers: **Something Borrowed (2x09) and mentions of Exit Wounds (2x13).

x

Thirty years ago Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones had said goodbye. It had been neither a bitter parting nor a tearful farewell. They had been together for so long it seemed inevitable that they would drift apart one day. Instead of falling into each other's arms, they had shaken hands and bid each other goodbye.

There had been no promises to return, no whispered words of how hard it was to leave. Both knew words would have been unnecessary and would have ruined their last memories of each other.

Now, after leaving what had once been the tourist office covering the secret entrance to Torchwood Three, and heading under the low bridge, Jack saw a familiar figure approaching him.

Ianto looked the same as he had done the last time had seen him, save for the lack of a suit. Instead, the Welshman was wearing dark jeans, a dark shirt and fitted jacket.

They didn't fall into each other's arms, crying and kissing each other on every available inch of skin; they were grown men and it was real life, not a romance novel.

Jack inclined his head, greeting Ianto with a small smile as he came to a stop a few feet in front of him. A breeze billowed across the Plass, a breeze which would have ruffled his 1940's greatcoat, had it not been retired to the secure archives ten years ago when wearing it had become a hindrance rather than a comfort.

"Jack," Ianto replied, with a nod of his own. "You're looking good," he complimented, sliding his hands into his pockets casually.

To a passing tourist it would appear as though these two men standing opposite each other were truly mad at each other for some reason of another. However, the opposite rang true; Jack knew and understood why Ianto had needed time on his own to come to terms with what had happened.

The younger man was so successful at isolating himself that it made sense his immediate reaction was to get away and spend time on his own. Jack was the complete opposite, after it had happened he threw himself into his work, finding any excuse to fight alien threats and eliminate them.

"So do you," Jack responded, running his eyes up and down the length of Ianto's body. While he wasn't as vulgar in his flirting techniques as he once was, Jack could still find the time to appreciate a person's beauty, be that interior or exterior. Ianto was one of those people who was blessed with both traits.

Ianto looked around at his surroundings, taking in what had changed about the Millennium Centre and the area beside it. Not many things had changed, shops had renamed and been renovated, but it was still the same old Cardiff, no matter how much time had passed.

"What made you come back?" Jack asked as together they moved towards the large stone steps a short walk away.

Ianto shrugged his shoulders, a mannerism he had never grown out of, Jack noticed. "The wisdom of old age?" He chuckled and shook his head, realising how much of a cliché that was, even as he said it. "I don't know," he eventually admitted. "My son, Glen, got married last week and seeing everyone at the wedding reminded me of…"

He trailed off, unwilling to say whose wedding it reminded him of. That day with the Nostrovite had been one of the first public displays of the relationship they had once had. And Jack had spent the whole dance worrying about the bride and how her recent nuptials would affect Torchwood's mission, instead of the young man in his arms.

"You did meet someone else then?" Jack asked, looking down at the ground. He didn't feel any anger or resentment towards the other man for moving on with his life; after all, Jack had been the one to tell Ianto he should meet other people and have a family.

Ianto nodded his head, "Mark," he replied, twisting the thin silver band on his middle finger. Jack looked at him in surprise and Ianto grinned, "You made me realise I prefer men over women; although, don't get me wrong, there are a few females I wouldn't say no to."

Jack threw his head back and laughed, the first real sound of happiness he had heard himself make for weeks. "That's good to know," he murmured once the laughter had subsided.

"He passed away four years ago."

Reaching across, Jack placed a hand over Ianto's comforting. "I'm sorry," he whispered his condolences. He truly meant his words, losing a loved one was never an easy thing to deal with.

They had all lost too many people over their joint years of working for Torchwood. _Greg, Michael, Alex, Lisa, Suzie, Owen, Tosh, Gwen, Martha, Rose, Donna…_

All of them had been senseless deaths, young people with more than enough life ahead of them, taken too soon from this world and thrust into darkness.

"He never really understood what was wrong with me," Ianto chuckled, looking up at the darkening sky as he was overcome with memories. "Thought I had some kind of curse on me. The kids thought I had some kind of genetic disorder or something."

Jack didn't speak as he listened to Ianto. He had spent a hundred years coming to terms with his immortality after it had been unwittingly thrust upon him, in a time far away and a place not yet discovered. Ianto, like Jack, hadn't asked to be made immortal. It had been a punishment given to him by a despicable man from Ianto's past. Someone who wanted to make Ianto suffer and had the power to make him suffer for the rest of eternity. He only wished he had been able to reverse the curse after killing Ianto's tormentor.

But the damage was done. Ianto's biological structure had been reset beyond repair. Martha had spent years before her death trying to find a way to reverse the process, in an attempt to find something that would help both Jack and Ianto. But her experiments had been futile; Ianto was as immortal as Jack and would live forever, watching the people that he loved die around him while he continued living.

That had been when Jack made his mind up to sent Ianto away. Before the Welshman came into the Captain's life, Jack had experienced over a hundred and fifty years of friendships and relationships. Ianto was only in his late twenties; he needed to experience more before he set off on the long road of life ahead of him.

"Jack?" Ianto called, waving a hand in front of the Captain's face, snapping him from his memories of the past.

He blinked three times in rapid succession, feeling his drying eyes sting painfully; he hadn't even realised he had been staring at a single point for the past… he didn't know how long. "Sorry," he apologised. "Did you say something?"

Ianto smiled softly, unable to resist running his fingers through the soft hair at Jack's temple. He hadn't been lying earlier when he had told Jack that the Captain hadn't changed. It was one of the plus sides about their inability to die; they remained looking as though they were barely thirty, even though Jack was approaching two-thousand-and-three-hundred years old, including the time he had spend buried alive thanks to his younger brother, Gray. Although, he was sure Jack's hair looked lighter in certain places.

"I asked if you wanted to get a coffee?" Ianto repeated, lowering his hand to his lap once more.

Jack flashed him a grin and nodded his head enthusiastically. "Oh, yeah," he replied happily.

"Haven't gotten over that caffeine addiction, I see," Ianto commented, hauling himself to his feet and holding his hand out to Jack.

Jack studied the outstretched hand before his eyes ran up the length of Ianto's arm to his shoulder and up his neck to his face. He smiled and placed his palm against the younger immortal's, allowing him to assist Jack to his feet.

"Thanks," he whispered, brushing any dirt from the seat of his trousers.

Ianto looked around Jack, having no qualms about looking at his backside and not making any attempt to hide what he was doing from Jack. "Looks fine to me," he commented appreciatively, standing upright once more.

They were now stood face to face and Jack didn't hesitate in placing a soft kiss on Ianto's lips. It felt strange yet wonderful to kiss him after such a long time apart. He placed one hand Ianto's hip, while the other went around his body, resting on his collar bone and pressing them closer together.

Ianto responded to the kiss happily, one hand finding it's familiar place buried in Jack's hair while the other caressed his neck.

The kiss wasn't passionate or hungry; they weren't horny teenagers, both knew they could have physical contact without immediately feeling the urge to tear each other's clothes off.

Together they pulled away, stepping back to what was considered a respectable distance for public areas.

"How long are you staying?" Jack asked, letting his hand fall from Ianto's shoulder, even while his other remained on his hip.

Ianto smiled and tilted his head to the side as though he was thinking. "I think thirty years at least," he replied. "The kids think I'm dead," he whispered sadly. "Train accident… You don't want to know," he shook his head in despair. He wasn't embarrassed and he most definitely didn't blush like a young child anymore, but it was still irritating to have to uproot himself from the life he had known for so long.

Jack grinned and they began their journey away from the Plass to find a respectable coffee shop.

"I'm not sure I remember how to make coffee," Ianto commented casually, laughing when Jack almost had a heart attack and fell over in horror.

The End


End file.
